Abstract
Recently, from data obtained with a temporal order judgment (TOJ) task, Gibson and Egeth (1994) concluded that inhibition of return (IOR; a response time effect that reveals slower responding to targets at previously cued versus uncued locations) reflects impaired perceptual processing. By replotting their data, we demonstrate that the perception of temporal order is influenced only by the facilitatory effect of a cue at short stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) and is unaffected by IOR at long SO As. The target paper proposed that, when extra stimuli are presented at task-relevant locations (i.e., in the TOJ task), IOR is prevented by a hypothetical process that is known as disinhibition of return (DOR). We argue that the assumptions that IOR affects perceptual processing and that DOR exists are unnecessary, as a more parsimonious response-based interpretation of IOR is consistent with their data. Further, we summarize recent results and present new data that demonstrate that DOR is unlikely.
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This research was supported by a NSERC Canada operating grant to R.K., by NSERC Canada Post Graduate funding and an Honrary Izaak Walton Killam Scholarship to W.C.S., and by SERC Grant GR/H/ 54966 to H.J.M.
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Klein, R.M., Schmidt, W.C. & Müller, H.J. Disinhibition of return: Unnecessary and unlikely. Perception & Psychophysics 60, 862–872 (1998). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206069
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206069